US citizen Stephen Hubbard freed by Russia and ‘on his means residence’, Trumps says

Russia has agreed to launch a 74-year-old American citizen who was jailed for allegedly combating on behalf of Ukraine.

Stephen Hubbard has been taken to Pulkovo Airport, Putin stated throughout talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, in response to state media.

President Trump stated Hubbard was “on his means again residence” and “there was no ‘swap’ vital for this launch”.

Hubbard, a former instructor initially from Michigan, was sentenced to nearly seven years in a penal colony in 2024.

Prosecutors had accused him of serving in a defence unit within the japanese metropolis of Izyum when he was captured by Russian forces, shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years earlier.

Writing on social media after Russian state media reported the discharge, Trump stated it had adopted a request he “made immediately” to Putin final week.

“There was no “swap” vital for this launch,” Trump stated.

The US State Department had beforehand categorized Hubbard as “wrongfully detained” and Trump had urged on Tuesday that his launch could also be imminent.

“Watch what occurs,” Trump instructed reporters, “we’ve got been centered ⁠on ​Hubbard”.

CBS News, the BBC’s US media associate, reported that Hubbard had been ill and was anticipated to be flown to Texas for therapy.